


Truths Spoken in Anger

by Skyeec2



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU as fack, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyeec2/pseuds/Skyeec2
Summary: Genesis finds a cadet that listened to him talk about Loveless. He would be crazy to let such an opportunity pass him by.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A fic based around a thought I had that wouldn't go away.  
> Edited by corrupted-spirit on Tumblr. Enjoy the story.

Genesis had been having a rough day, Angeal had been too busy with his student to bother with him and Sephiroth was being a _bore_ as usual so he was forced to spend the day alone.

Now, Boredom did not mix well with Genesis, it never had and it never would. So, the fact that he was bored now did not spell out well for the other people around him.

But… Angeal said that he shouldn’t set random people on fire because he was bored, or spiteful, or angry, or anything like that. So, he needed to find other, less destructive, ways to entertain himself.

That had led him to where he currently was: occupying a folding chair next to a pair of cadets on guard duty, reading a copy of Loveless aloud.

It was a very fun thing for him to do, getting to share his favourite piece of literature with the deprived cadets while terrifying them with his presence.

The guard duties for the cadets were very convenient for this, they weren’t allowed to leave until someone came to relieve them and he was far above them in the chain of command so they couldn’t really complain about it. Even if they did, it wasn’t likely that he would even care about being reprimanded.

There was also the issue of him lighting random cadets on fire with his Materia in the past that made the cadets even more frightened of him.

He was nearing the end of the book when he realised that one of the cadets was being very still. Usually by now the cadets would be fidgeting in place, eagerly awaiting their relief, the other was certainly doing so but this cadet wasn’t moving at all.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he could hear their uneven breathing, he would have thought the cadet to be asleep. Perhaps, the cadet had simply filtered his presence out and was ignoring him, didn’t matter he wasn’t doing anything anytime soon.

Reaching the ending of the book, he closed it soundly, settling back into the chair in order to savour the feeling he always got when he finished reading the poem. He was forced from his thoughts by a soft voice above him.

“Is that… how it ends?” The question was hesitant, as if the cadet was unsure if he was allowed to ask it. Genesis didn’t fault the boy his hesitance, he was speaking to a SOLDIER First Class.

Genesis turned his Mako-shining eyes up to the cadet, absently noticing that the other was almost paralyzed with fear before ignoring them. The cadet brave or foolish enough to speak to him had his face covered by a standard issue helmet, meaning that Genesis couldn’t identify anything about him.

He did notice that he was very small, tiny when compared to him and he himself wasn’t even that tall when compared to someone like Sephiroth or gods forbid, _Angeal_. The kid was trying to get into SOLDIER? Genesis doubted he would make it, but then again many people thought the same about him.

He finally decided to answer the kid instead of just staring at him, using those people skills Angeal always went on about.

“That’s the magic of it, the poem doesn’t have an ending thus leaving it up to interpretation.” That was putting it in simple terms, there were currently so many interpretations of the poem out there that almost every showing of plays based on the poem was different in one way or another.

“Nobody knows whether it was done intentionally or not; it certainly lends to the mystery of the story, doesn’t it?” Genesis continued when the cadet continued to look at him from behind his helmet.

“So… what interpretation do you like?” This question was more confident that his previous one, the kid was more eager to ask questions when Genesis didn’t throw fire at him.

Genesis was always eager to talk about his favourite poem, always. This time was no different.

“I’m more partial towards the shows that focus more on the friendship between the three friends than the more often seen romantic angle they like to show, but to each their own I suppose.” Genesis finished his answer with a shrug, everyone had their own opinions and if it meant the story became more widely recognised, he would endure.

A thoughtful hum left the cadet’s mouth but before he could ask anything else, his relief showed up. Angeal strode in front of them, obviously annoyed with him if the frown on his face was anything to go by.

He focused back on the cadet, heavying a great sigh as he stood from his chair, stretching his arms above his head. He confirmed that the cadet was tiny, he was almost half-a-foot taller than the kid. Though that might’ve been more towards the fact that he was wearing his heeled boots.

Angeal could sigh at them as much as he wanted, but he needed them so that he and Sephiroth didn’t tower above him as much. Goddamned Sephiroth and Angeal and their over 6 feet in height.

He couldn’t help but noticed that the cadet’s skin was very pale, he bet it flushed easily. Angeal had almost reached where they were standing, the other cadet had relaxed immensely upon seeing the other Commander.

Genesis refrained himself from doing something to set Angeal off, he would much rather not be subjected to another of his lectures about interpersonal relations and treating people with respect.

Instead he bowed graciously to the young cadet, each movement graceful in its execution. “We’ll have to finish this conversation later, little one. Seems we’ve been interrupted by an honour-bound mother bear.”

His comment spurned surprised laughter from the cadet, causing the smirk on Genesis’ face to grow in size. He liked the soft sound, he didn’t often get to be the cause of laughter, that was more Angeal’s thing.

He stepped away from the cadet, allowing Angeal to grab him and began dragging him towards the elevators. Entering the elevator, Angeal punched in their floor number and scowling at the closed doors.

Genesis frowned at the doors, leaning back on the walls of the elevator a pout on his face as he crossed his arms. He had left his folding chair with the cadets, he’d have to get someone to bring it back up for him.

 

* * *

 

Despite his restraint he still received a lecture from Angeal, only interrupted when some Second Class dragged in Angeal’s hyperactive student, howling about some thing or another.

Angeal’s frown deepened. He dragged the puppy to sit next to Genesis and proceeded to lecture the both of them for the next hour.

By the time Genesis made in back to his office the folding chair had been returned to him, left standing next to the wall of his office.

Seeing the large amount of paperwork accumulated on his desk, he decided to sit down and work through it then.

Genesis had his own way of dealing with paperwork as did his other friends. He preferred to let things build up and then get everything done in one go at the end of the day while Angeal liked to schedule his days so he had clear cut time periods to get his paperwork done.

Sephiroth just sat at his desk and _did it_ , it was a little weird to him but if that was how Sephiroth did it, then that was how Sephiroth did his paperwork.

He sat back in his comfy high-back chair and got to work on what was before him, he needed to show that he had done something productive today.

 

* * *

 

The next time he met the cadet, the puppy had gotten into a fight with another Third Class and a handful of cadets had unfortunately gotten caught in the crossfire. He was accompanying Angeal and the puppy to the infirmary because Angeal wanted his apprentice to look each of the injured cadets in the eye and apologize to each one of them.

Genesis was coming along to laugh. He would do it silently, but he would still do it.

They arrived at the infirmary with little fanfare and were soon at the last of the injured cadets. They were forced to pause for several minutes as Zack nearly burst into tears at the sight of a tiny blonde cadet.

The puppy had gotten to the cadet’s bed and starting fussing and babbling about how he ‘was _so tiny_!’ and how he ‘could’ve _killed_ you dude!’. The cadet had ended up staring at the puppy with a deadpan expression as the other continued to babble.

The cadet had reached the end of his patience on top of his concussion, as was obvious by the way he just stared at them as he spoke. “My _size_ wouldn’t be an issue if you _SOLDIERS_ remembered that not everyone’s as _durable_ as you are.” The inflections in the cadet’s tone told them all about his opinions.

Genesis resisted the urge to laugh at the chagrined look the puppy adopted, even Angeal seemed to be fighting back a chuckle of his own.

But, Genesis remembered that voice. Looking a bit closer at the cadet as the puppy and Angeal continued on their apology route, the puppy with his tail between his legs, he wondered if this was the cadet he had bothered almost a week ago.

The cadet finally noticing that Genesis was staring at him, saluted him respectively.

Genesis sat down next to the cadet, mentally comparing the boy to the cadet from almost a week ago. The cadet gave him an odd look before deciding to ignore him for the time being.

 It took a few minutes more before Genesis decided that this cadet was the one from last week, though there was one way to find out. “You’re the cadet that asked me about Loveless, aren’t you?”

The kid’s eyes turned back to him, having some trouble focusing as he answers. “Yes? Unless there’s someone else my size amongst the cadets that I don’t know about?”

Genesis had to smile at the answer, the kid was a spitfire, even if it was only because of a concussion. Humour laced his tone as he responds, “I don’t _think_ anyone else your size would be foolish enough to attempt making SOLDIER.”

The cadet’s face twisted cutely, first in confusion then in irritation as he worked through what Genesis had said. “It’s only stupid if I quit after all that work,” the concussion made the kid’s accent more apparent, almost making the words indistinguishable to Genesis’ ears.

Genesis snorted in amusement, that sounded like something Angeal would say. Kid was too stubborn to quit while he was ahead.

He could respect that quality.

“Have you got anyone who can look after you when you leave?” It was probably better to ask before stealing the cadet away.

The kid’s face twisted in a scowl as he answered with a resounding, “No.”

“Good.” Standing he moved to the reception desk, eager to leave the infirmary. The overwhelming smell of antiseptic was starting to get to him.

The staff were quick to shove the cadet onto him; they didn’t have the space or resources to look after someone with just a concussion. They were in the elevator to his floor before five minutes had passed.

He learned a great deal about his little cadet by the time Angeal came to ‘rescue’ the young man. His name was ‘Cloud Strife’, which got a laugh from him as Cloud glared at him, he was from a small mountain town called Nibelheim and he’d never had the chance to really appreciate literature before coming to Midgar.

Not that he had the chance to appreciate it since starting the SOLDIER cadet program, the courses and physical fitness training taking up all his time.

That was about the time that Angeal showed up. He gently shepherded Cloud out of the room, scowling as Genesis pressed one of his favourite texts besides Loveless into the cadet’s hands and returned Cloud to the barracks.

Angeal returned soon after and attempted to lecture him about something or other; Genesis wasn’t listening to his old friend at all. He was more focused thinking about how Cloud would enjoy the material he had lent him.

 

* * *

 

They eventually developed a friendship of sorts through literature; Cloud taking whatever Genesis suggested then returning to talk with him about it after finishing it.

He found he enjoyed having someone to talk books with.

Angeal had grumbled about it for a while until he had pointed that out to his old friend, then the larger First adopted a self-deprecating frown and wandered off to brood for a bit.

Genesis had tolerated the attitude for all of ten minutes before sending the puppy in his direction.

There were some things that worried him about his friend, mostly the amount of bruises the cadet seemed to obtain on a regular basis. He didn’t quite remember his own cadet days, but he felt that something was going amiss in the cadet training program.

He decided upon a course of action after seeing Cloud with a plethora of bruises covering his limbs.

He dragged Angeal with him down to observe a cadet training session, giving vague answers about why he wanted to be there though he doubted Angeal couldn’t see right through him. He shrugged, leaning against the window in the observation level of the room watching the proceeds intently.

It was easy enough to see where Cloud’s issues were coming from.

The instructor had Cloud using a standard broadsword instead of something more fit to his size, leaving the kid unable to lift the blade at all. Leaving Cloud at a clear disadvantage to the other trainees.

If the furrow of Angeal’s brow was anything to go by, his old friend was none too impressed with what he was seeing either. Genesis watched his friend from the corner of his eye, waiting for the honourable man to say something.

“This is an outrage!” Angeal’s voice was strained with anger, the larger man trying to keep his composure. “He can’t even lift the blade!”

“I’m glad you agree with me, my friend.”

“Whatever it is you’re planning Genesis, there’s a – Genesis! Don’t you dare! Gene-!” Sometimes he absolutely loved his friend, others, like now, he couldn’t stand the slow process the other preferred.

He would much rather get results, thank you Angeal.

He opened the door to the training area, striding through with his usual confidence. He ignored the stutter of surprise that ran through the cadets and strode directly to the instructor.

From the corner of his eye he could see Cloud still struggling to lift the blade he had been given.

He came to a stop before the instructor staring him down momentarily, thank the Goddess for heeled boots. It was hard enough for him to gain the respect of the lower classes already, needing to look _up_ at someone would diminish the effect he was going for.

He kept his gaze trained firmly upon the instructor until he could see the beginnings of a nervous sweat, only then did he start to speak in a cold, calm tone. “Tell me SOLDIER, why exactly is that cadet using a blade, clearly unsuited for him?”

He caught the flicker of the instructor’s gaze in Cloud’s direction before the instructor fumbled for a reply. “We couldn’t find… couldn’t find anything in… for his size, Commander. So, he’s gonna have to make due for the… for the moment, sir.”

Genesis resisted the urge to scoff at the idiot in front of him, he needed to enforce upon the man why that was a _terrible_ idea. “Did you come to this conclusion on your own SOLDIER?” The flinch of the instructor informed him that he hadn’t kept a handle on his anger.

“W-w-well, s-s-sir,” Genesis cut him off before his stuttering could irritate him further.

“As any of your superiors would be able to inform you that in cases, such as these, you put in a request for more suitable equipment and excuse the cadet from weapon training until the proper equipment is required.” He had taken up his most condescending tone as he spoke to the instructor Really, it was something he should have learned _before_ he was cleared to be an instructor for the recruits.

“M-m-my a-apol-“ Genesis cut him off once again, unwilling to listen to the man’s excuses.

“The cadet will be forced to find someone with a similar weapon type to teach him, but that’s his own issue. Though it’s far better than the alternative result of breaking the cadet.” By then Angeal had arrived behind him and he too was staring down the instructor. “We do not need you to break our cadets, SOLDIER.”

He dismissed the instructor, turning his gaze towards the plethora of cadets staring at him in mixtures of awe, fear and nervousness. He barely repressed a pleased smirk as he barked out his order, “Let’s see those drills cadets! Commander Hewley’s going to ensure your holding those swords correctly!”

The subdued groan from the cadets caused the smirk he had been repressing to bloom across his face. He could feel the weight of Angeal’s disapproving stare on him as the cadets scattered to comply with his orders. He caught sight of Cloud at the back of the class, still struggling with that damned blade.

“Cadet Strife!” Cloud turned to look at him, sweat soaking his brow. He walked over to him and took the blade, enhancements making the blade manageable. “You’ll be coming with me for now.”

Cloud’s confusion was apparent, but he followed him anyway. They left the training area swiftly, leaving Angeal to deal with the class while they searched out the proper request forms Cloud would need.

Instead of filling out boring paperwork they ended up rooting through several weapon storages before finding something fit for Cloud to use. Well, at least Cloud wouldn’t fall far behind his fellow cadets.

Genesis would be happy to help the blonde. After all, the instructor had already proven himself useless, he wouldn’t want the plebeian to ruin Cloud’s potential any further.

 

* * *

 

Usually he hated teaching, didn’t have the patience to deal with _other_ people. Though he didn’t mind dealing with Cloud, as much.

The kid was fairly competent, picked things quickly and very eager to learn. More often than not, Cloud would remain in the training area long after Genesis himself had grown bored and left, practising what Genesis had taught him that day.

He lorded that fact over Angeal whenever he turned that disapproving frown his way. Sephiroth would just watch them both in confusion before going on to ignoring them, though the awkward man agreed with Genesis whenever he got dragged into the conversation.

That gave him several points in Genesis’ book and caused Angeal to look at him in aghast shock over his opinion.

Sephiroth would only shrug before stating that he hadn’t set anyone on fire recently and anything that reduced their need to fix whatever Genesis destroyed was fine by him. Genesis had paused momentarily, thinking over Sephiroth’s words before agreeing with the man.

They did spend quite a bit of their budget fixing things that had been warped by the heat of his Fire Materia and since agreeing to teach Cloud he hadn’t been particularly bored.

Angeal had pressed his hands against his face in exasperation, clearly done with the two of them. He gave a heavy sigh before leaving, he needed to make his way to meet his apprentice in one of the training rooms anyway.

Though, they all knew that he’d be waiting for a while as the puppy wasn’t the most punctual person. Something else he often lorded over Angeal, Cloud was always early to their training sessions; going through the stretches Genesis had shown him to loosen up before they started.

Genesis stretched out on the couch he was currently sitting on, pulling out the book he was currently reading. It wasn’t Loveless, but it was an enjoyable read so far. Sephiroth returned his attention to his paperwork, ignoring Genesis’ presence as he worked.

Things were going pretty well for him at the moment.

 

* * *

 

When Genesis arrived in the training room, the feeling of irritation that had been present since awaking had turned into anger. The people he had had to deal with had been their usual level of incompetence, only furthering his anger as the day progressed.

He wasn’t surprised to see that Cloud was already in the room, stretching in preparation for what Genesis would put him through. He could feel the sneer grow on his features as he looked at the other.

He approached the blonde swiftly, moving with the grace of a predator as he stalked towards the younger man.

“Come along, Cloud,” He spoke, pulling Rapier from its sheath as he got into a ready position. “Let us begin.”

He spent the next few minutes pinning Cloud to the ground, again and again until he grew bored. The blonde wasn’t making any progress today, even with the change in weapons.

He pinned Cloud to the ground once more, resting on top of the blonde, staring into big blue eyes his sword poised to pierce the flesh of Cloud’s throat.

“Why do you even keep trying?” He scoffed at the younger, ignoring the way bright blue eyes widened with hurt and pain. “Do you honestly think you’ll ever get into SOLDIER?”

The soft breaths from the cadet were the only sounds between for several moments. Cloud kept his face averted from Genesis as he spoke, tone full of hurt and anger, “Could ask the same thing to you.”

Genesis froze. “What?!” The word was an almost silent hiss, though with how close Cloud was to him he had no doubt that the younger had heard him.

“Why even try to beat Sephiroth? You’ll never be able to.” Cloud tone was flat with anger and Genesis had to wonder if the younger truly believed that.

Did Cloud really think that Genesis would never be able to win against Sephiroth? That he was simply wasting his time with all his efforts and training?

A burning rage erupted within him at that moment, he pushed himself away from where he had had Cloud pinned beneath. Needing to leave before he did something he would regret; like burn the facility down around him.

He somehow managed to get back to his room, uncaring of the angry tears that stained his face. He slammed the door behind him, barely managing to lock the door before he lost himself to his emotions.

He choked back a pained scream, stumbling towards his couch and grabbing one of the throw pillows in order to muffle his sounds. He didn’t want to disturb Angeal or Sephiroth, didn’t want them to come barging in and demand what was wrong.

He remained in his living room, curled around that pillow for the rest of the day and well into the next. He eventually uncurled himself, stumbling into his shower and giving himself a rough one-over before climbing into bed, barely dried uncaring of the fact he wasn’t wearing anything as he burrowed his way under the blankets.

He slept hours.

When he awoke, he remained within the cocoon of blankets thinking through what had happened the day before. He shouldn’t have said that too Cloud, the kid had been kind to him, putting up with Genesis’ attitude and moods.

Genesis deserved Cloud’s anger, he had hurt the young blonde. He had meant to hurt the blonde, said that just to cause pain for the other, he didn’t even remember what had caused his anger yesterday.

He shouldn’t have taken that out on Cloud. He should have just postponed the training; Cloud would have understood.

Instead he had said things that had caused the younger a great amount of pain.

Cloud had given as good as he got though, knowing where to strike Genesis to make it hurt.

Now he couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t any truth to the blonde’s words.

Was he really wasting his time, trying to become better than Sephiroth? No, he couldn’t be. But, then again, he hadn’t ever gotten close to besting the General, had he?

He couldn’t believe that his years of hard work had been for nothing.

He needed to find out.

 

* * *

 

 

 

It was a simple enough thing to find the footage from their latest sparring session; sometimes Shinra liked to broadcast these little sessions to increase recruitment so they often kept them on file.

He took a copy of the footage with him, returning to the safety of his own room with it.

He was quick to put the device into his computer and started to watch the footage.

He skipped through the majority of the footage, only interested in the end.

Reaching the end of the fight, he stared at the figure Sephiroth painted on the screen; imposing, tall and… barely winded.

Sephiroth looked absolutely fine, hardly sweating and breathing as calmly as he ever did, while he and Angeal looked like they had fought an entire army on their own.

Angeal’s chest was heaving from his efforts, sweat-soaked hair plastered to his face. He himself didn’t look any better, the ashen tinge on his face an obvious sign of magic depletion.

But Sephiroth, the man was unfazed from the battle. It was an awful thing to realize, that all the efforts from Angeal and himself didn’t amount to anything against the other.

His knuckles were white with tension, gripping the table in front of him tightly. If the table had been a lesser quality, it would have broken under the force of his hands.

All his years of hard work and training; what was it for?

All the glory and respect he had fought to gain, non-existent. His accomplishments barely recognized or acknowledged next to Sephiroth’s own.

Everything he had ever hoped to accomplish in his years of training, all the skills and power he had gained, none of them even compared to what Sephiroth had already achieved. No matter how much stronger he got, Sephiroth would always be several levels above him on his own pedestal.

A harsh sob ripped itself from his throat. Genesis threw his computer away from himself, ignoring the sounds the device made as it impacted against the wall and broke.

He buried his face in his hand, shoulders shaking with the force of the sobs. He couldn’t deal with this right now.

He remained there, sitting on his couch for hours until he was ready to properly sort through his thoughts.

What should he strive for now that everything he had every worked for was a childish delusion?

He had mourned the loss of his dreams, now he needed to figure out what he wanted from his life now.

 

* * *

 

He didn’t talk to Angeal or Sephiroth about it, though he was sure they noticed the sudden change in his attitude. He was no longer as eager to pick a fight with the General, spending longer periods of time in his office.

He didn’t talk to Angeal as his old friend was too busy working with his apprentice to badger him about what was going on and he didn’t talk to Sephiroth because the man _wouldn’_ t be able to understand what he was talking about.

He still gave his all when they spared together, though there was a different undercurrent to his actions then there had been previously. Instead of trying to best Sephiroth, he was simply throwing himself against a brick wall in order to improve.

He found that he enjoyed the sessions more that way, without being angry at Sephiroth afterwards. He had been an awful friend, hadn’t he?

He noticed that both his friends had relaxed considerably with his new attitude, it seemed that his one-sided rivalry had put a strain on their friendship.

He wished he could talk to Cloud about it. But, he hadn’t been able to gather the courage to talk to the cadet, let alone apologize for what he had said.

He had time though; Cloud was far too determined to give up, no matter what he had said.

 

* * *

 

He had been avoiding Cloud since the ‘incident’ only hearing vague things about him from the puppy every now and then. Though he was aware that the exams had passed and the cadets would be getting their results back today.

Perhaps he should go find Cloud and ask about his results? No, he doubted the other wanted anything to do with him now.

He spent the time reading in his office until his PHS chimed with a message, from Sephiroth. Odd, usually he preferred talking face to face.

He opened the message to find out what the other First Class had thought so important that he couldn’t come find him to say it.

Three lines of text stared up at him from the screen, almost causing him to drop the device:

_Your friend failed the exam. He is refusing to join the general Army._

_You should see him before he leaves,_

_Sephiroth_

That little titbit of information was definitely important enough for the text.

Genesis stood from his desk, making his way out of his office quickly. Between his hurried pace and lengthy stride, he was able to make his way to Cloud’s room in a short amount of time, despite the torturous pace of the elevator between floor.

He hesitated in front of the door, working up the courage to open it. He shouldn’t be afraid of speaking to Cloud, especially if the other was about to leave Shinra.

He opened the door, knocking on the metal as he did. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Cloud was the only one in the room, the blonde turned to face him momentarily before turning back to his packing.

Genesis made his way over to the other, standing next to him as Cloud packed his things away stiffly. He reached out and hesitantly placed his hand upon Cloud’s arm only to have it jerk away from him.

“Cloud…” He paused, he didn’t quite know what to say to the other.

“You were right.” Cloud’s voice is cold and empty, completely different to how it should be. “It was useless for me to waste my time here.”

He tried to say something but Cloud cut him off before he could start.

“I’ll be returning to Nibelheim now, you don’t need to worry about me hanging around anymore.” Cloud’s body was turned away from Genesis now, concealing his face from the SOLDIER.  “I’ll go back and find something I can do.”

“Cloud, I’m sorry.” He spoke softly, realising that he had affected Cloud as much as Cloud had affected him. “Tell me what happened, please.”

He refused to admit that his voice was growing hoarse with emotion. Cloud finally turned to look at him, his eyes dull as they stared at him. Cloud reached for a plain envelope that lay on the bed, handing it to Genesis without saying anything.

Genesis took the letter, fishing out the papers within and reading over them.

Cloud had passed his exams and physical with flying colours, even with the new weapon, it was only on the last page that the reason behind Cloud’s failure became apparent. High mako susceptibility. Risks to subject too high to safely consider entering the SOLDIER program.

Cloud’s own body made him unable to be a SOLDIER and it wasn’t something he could change or work to better himself with like sword skills or Materia. No wonder Cloud was leaving, there was little reason for him to remain at Shinra if he could never fulfil his dreams.

Genesis folded the pages back together, looking back at the tense line of Cloud’s shoulders, he spoke hesitantly to the blonde, “you’re really leaving Midgar, then?”

Cloud only nodded in reply.

Genesis hummed slightly in response, coming to a decision of his own. “Spend the night with me,” Cloud was noticeably shocked by his calm voice. “You can have a decent meal and a good night’s rest before you leave.”

Cloud stared at him, unable to find anything to say to him. Genesis kept the others gaze, unwavering in his resolution.

The other nodded silently, finishing what remained of his packing. Genesis sat at the end of the bed, waiting for the other to finish before they could leave.

 

* * *

 

If there was one thing Genesis splurged on more than literature, it was comfort items.

All his blankets were soft and warm while the pillows were thick enough to muffle any sound he didn’t want other people to hear.

There were two blankets draped over his couch in the living room, one on the bed and two others stashed away in the closet for when winter came. He directed Cloud over to the couch for the moment before moving into the kitchen and ordering some of that awful take-out that he knew the other loved.

With that done, he brought out two glasses of water and sat next to Cloud. The blonde had already cocooned himself in one of the blankets, the soft hand-knitted quilt done in warm colours.

They spoke sparsely as they waited for the food to arrive, Genesis reading while Cloud sat silent next to him.

Genesis was aware that whatever going through Cloud’s head was probably awful, but Cloud preferred to be able to sort through his own thoughts and feelings before talking to someone else. He would give the younger the time he needed.

He eventually left the apartment to pick up the food from reception, making his way as quickly as he could.

He was pleasantly surprised by the soft ‘hey,’ he got when he returned. “Hi,” he responded softly before holding the bag aloft, “I ordered that garbage you like.”

A soft chuckle fell from Cloud, surprising the younger, Genesis’ own smile grew at the sound. He quickly got some cutlery from the kitchen before re-joining the bundled blonde on the couch.

They picked at their food as they spoke to each other for the first time in weeks. Cloud spoke about how he had throw himself into his training while Genesis spoke about the revelation Cloud’s words had triggered.

Cloud attempted to apologize for saying those things but Genesis was quick to cut him off. He had apparently needed the wake-up call.

Cloud bowed his head before pushing his crown of golden spikes into Genesis’ shoulder, “I missed you.” The words were spoken softly, in that sincere wholehearted way Cloud had.

If this were anyone else, he would turn up the charm and joke with them, but this was Cloud.

“I did too,” it was honest in a way that Genesis wasn’t as familiar with as he wished to be. His tone hoarse and vulnerable as he pressed his face into the golden spikes, unwilling to become an emotional mess again.

They remained like that for several minutes until jerking movements came from the blonde. He gazed down at the blonde, observing how he jerked the blanket from around him until Genesis too was covered by the material.

They should have moved from the couch; they’d regret sleeping here in the morning.

Cloud stared up at him as if he knew what Genesis was thinking and disagreed with him immensely.

He heaved a sigh, relaxing under the warm weight of the other and let his mind wander.

It was fine, he’d just have to acquaint Cloud with his Restore Materia.


End file.
